VietNamNet Bridge – Television and radio stations in the country are no longer allowed to partner to produce news and political programmes, according to a new governmental regulation that took effect yesterday, March 15.

Children watch a foreign TV channel. A new governmental regulation states that the number of foreign TV channels must account for no more than 30 per cent of the total number of channels. — VNS Photo Trương Vi

The new regulation also states that the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) will not issue licences to affiliated programmes. General directors of TV and broadcasting stations are responsible for selecting partners, and the ministry is only in charge of supervising and fining any violations of news agencies.

According to MoIC Deputy Minister Truong Minh Tuan the regulation aims to boost the subscription-based pay TV market in Viet Nam by encouraging sustainable development and win-win competitiveness.

He said that some content of the Prime Minister’s decision in 2011 on the management of pay TV services in Viet Nam is “not enough and has yet to keep pace with the development of the sector and meet State management requirements”.

The number of pay TV subscribers surged from 3 million in 2011 to nearly 10 million by the end of last year, Tuan said.

He said that self-control rights are now afforded to news agencies, which requires leading officials of these agencies to uphold their responsibilities in controlling the content of affiliated programmes. The ministry will no longer be involved in this process.

The new regulation also states that the number of foreign TV channels must account for no more than 30 per cent of all channels in the pay TV system. The other 70 per cent must be domestic programmes.

According to the regulation, foreign channels must be in line with Vietnamese tradition and must not violate Viet Nam’s press law. They must also own copyright registration in order to broadcast on Viet Nam’s pay TV system.

The programmes must also be edited and translated, and the content quality must be assured by staff that own foreign program editing licences.

Nguyen Ha Yen, MoIC’s Deputy Director General of the Department of Broadcasting and Electronic Information Management, said the new regulation would create conditions for foreign channels to take part in the pay TV system and motivates domestic providers to boost programme production.

Regarding the cost of pay TV services, Deputy Minister Tuan said that pay TV providers must publicise service prices and related information so that users can make an informed decision on whether to choose their service.

VNS